2016 - Top 10 Best Companies for Women in India

Accenture Services Private Limited

Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and allbusiness functions- underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network- Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 384,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives.

Accenture has an underlying belief in inclusion and diversity.

Inclusion and diversity are fundamental to the culture and core values at Accenture. It is the organization’s constant endeavor to foster an innovative, collaborative and high-performing work environment through a diverse workforce that brings unique perspectives, abilities, talents, capabilities, experiences and cultures. The diversity of its people is part of what makes Accenture exceptional. The organization recognizes that each person has unique strengths. And by embracing those strengths, they all deliver high performance- together.

While significantly growing its talent base in India over the past decade, Accenture has always had a sustained focus on diversity. The organization is proud of the 45,000 plus women representing over 33% of the workforce in India, who contribute to Accenture’s success and to an environment that is rich in diversity.

For the inclusion of women at every level of the organization, Accenture offers an environment and culture that develops, empowers and enables them to thrive through their career and life stages, and lead successful and intentional careers as they learn and grow. Accenture has consistently elevated the discourse on Gender diversity, both within the organization as well as at the cross-industry level.

At Accenture, men play an active role as advocates of gender diversity and leaders consistently engage in fostering a culture of inclusion in their businesses by sponsoring and advocating for diversity. Supported by a strong leadership governance structure, Accenture continues to meet and exceed diversity targets that it sets for itself.

It is Accenture’s commitment to inclusion and diversity that enables the organization to ensure sustained growth for its clients and the larger communities in which it operates. Accenture is proud of the accomplishments and recognition it has received for its inclusion and diversity practices.

At Accenture, we know that our diversity makes us stronger, smarter and more innovative. We are committed to creating a safe workplace where professional conduct and respect for every individual is the norm.

Cummins India Limited

At Cummins, the country’s leading designer and manufacturer of engines, generator sets and related components and technologies, ‘Diversity’ is managed through both adequate representation and creating the right working environment. Representation focuses on attracting, developing and retaining a diverse workforce- a true reflection of the communities within which the Company operates and the customers it serves. Environment entails creating a workplace that is psychologically safe, inclusive, respectful and high performance. It is one that seeks, harnesses, and takes advantage of the differing backgrounds and experiences of each individual employee to work well with each other and innovate in all areas to delight all stakeholders.

Cummins believes that the full benefit of diversity can only be harnessed by creating a culture of inclusiveness where every employee feels valued and respected. From a mere 7% female representation in 2005, today women constitute 30% of the total professional workforce at Cummins at all levels of the organization. This achievement is a result of a series of initiatives and programs instituted by the Company over the years. For example, gender focused recruitment drives and second career hiring project targeting women on career breaks have played an instrumental role. Having adopted a ‘Hire to Develop’ philosophy, the Company has instituted customized interventions that facilitate the development of women employees for leadership positions and in key succession opportunities. Leaders at Cummins are expected to coach and develop talent within their line of reporting and beyond. Both formal and informal approaches to coaching and mentoring exist, which are tracked and monitored for impact.

The Growing Women Leaders (GWL) Program is another such program spearheaded by the Company that focuses on increasing women in leadership roles, through structured initiatives across multiple ranks. The two fold objectives include ‘Talent Visibility’ and ‘Talent Development’. High potential women employees are identified leveraging the internal performance management system that allows for a) Gap assessment followed by career conversations to understand the career aspirations of the employee b) Focused development plan for functional and leadership competency building, and coaching and mentoring along with opportunities for external learning through sponsored education programs. The Company has tie ups with premier institutes such as IIM Ahmedabad, TISS, S.P. Jain and ISB in India and the Kelley School of Business in the USA.

Programs have been designed for growing women talent for lateral and vertical growth for both Technical and Non-Technical functions.

Work-life integration of employees is seen critical to building an inclusive environment. Apart from providing parental leaves and flexible work hours, Cummins has also instituted on-site Child Care Centres across all its plant and office locations.

Going beyond the workplace, Cummins has established a Scholarship Program “Nurturing Brilliance” to enable young ladies from traditionally economically and socially disadvantaged sections of society to go to college for undergraduate degrees. The program offers full reimbursement of tuition fees and assigns its employees as mentors to the Scholarship recipients to guide and mentor the students through the entire duration of the program. Over the last decade, 379 female students have benefited from the Scholarship program.

Over the years, Cummins’ endeavors in the area of gender diversity have been recognised with several accolades and awards bestowed upon it by recognised institutions from within this field.

Diversity is central to Cummins’ core values. With business challenges becoming increasingly more complex, diversity and inclusion have become that much more critical to achieving long-term success. Over the years, our strong commitment to diversity has increased representation of women and other minority groups in our workforce. Along with this, our focus on fostering a working environment that is psychologically safe, inclusive, respectful and high performance will enable us to draw the benefits of this increasing representation to deliver superior results that delight all stakeholders.

Anant Talaulicar Chairman and Managing Director, Cummins Group in India

Deloitte in India

In this environment of change, Inclusion remains pivotal to Deloitte’s culture of empowerment, opportunity, enrichment, equity and excellence. Deloitte understands that the marketplace and talent landscape are rapidly evolving. It envisions a workplace where gender parity becomes a reality, and valuing diversity becomes the norm.

Several strategic initiatives specific to gender inclusion are integrated into the organization’s culture. This includes a sponsorship program to develop leaders, which is a critical element of Deloitte’s Talent strategy of fostering an environment “where leaders thrive”. The program helps high-performing women professionals build their brand, provides opportunities for high visibility projects and helps them navigate the organization. This has proven to be effective in the development of a strong women leadership pipeline. To add to its strength in diversity, Deloitte also conducts periodic workshops on inclusive hiring to identify and on board the brightest minds.

Deloitte recognizes that people’s needs change to match their evolving priorities during the different phases of their lives - whether one is raising a family or taking care of a sick family member or aging parents. Flexibility and predictability are acknowledged as key factors for retention. Deloitte offers its professionals (both women and men) solutions and choices that help them balance their personal and professional commitments. These include a formal framework for flexible work options such as remote work, telecommuting, and flex-time. These formalized programs strengthen mutual trust and commitment.

Staying focused on its priority to consistently evaluate and enhance programs and policies for the benefit of its workforce, Deloitte enhanced its paid maternity leave policy to 26 weeks, even before the recent changes in the statutory requirements were initiated. This enhancement, when combined with other maternity related benefits such as the transportation reimbursement for expectant mothers for comfortable travel to and from the office for the entire duration of pregnancy serves as a market differentiator for Deloitte in India

Deloitte believes in a holistic approach to wellbeing for all its professionals. “Empowered Wellbeing” is the organization’s response to help its workforce balance personal and professional commitments while leading healthy and purposeful lives. Empowered Well-being provides professionals access to tools, resources and encouragement to make individual choices that positively impact their personal well-being. Built on the foundation of flexibility and availed by professionals on principles of trust and empowerment, the program encompasses the core aspects of nurturing a healthy body and engaging mind while creating a sense of purpose to help each professional stay productive and involved.

At Deloitte, we believe in championing an inclusive work environment that enables equal opportunity and encourages and nurtures exceptional talent- regardless of gender, thereby facilitating a business advantage and making an impact that matters.

N. Venkatram Managing Partner & CEO, Deloitte India

We are focused on Diversity and Inclusion, andour programs are fundamental to furtheringpotential, accelerating growth, and connectingaspirations with opportunities, forour professionals.

EY India

At EY, we believe that only the highest-performing teams, which maximize the power of different opinions, perspectives and cultural references, will succeed in the global marketplace. Our ability to work effectively as a global organization and deliver exceptional service to our clients worldwide is fueled by and dependent on, our ability to embed diversity and inclusiveness into the way that we do business. Everyone is different and this difference matters. Gender diversity is a key aspect of promoting diversity and inclusiveness. The role of women within the organization is one that is highly valued. We are constantly looking at improving the EY experience for our women to help them achieve their full potential without having anything to hold them back. To be able to achieve this, we have in place a robust mechanism of tracking and measuring inclusion of women at different levels and roles.

OUR KEY INITIATIVES THAT MAKE EY A GREAT PLACE TO WORK FOR WOMEN INCLUDE: Career Watch - A career sponsorship program for our high potential women in the rank of Senior Manager and Directors.

Women’s leadership workshop - A leadership development program aimed at nurturing a diverse workforce and building a gender balanced leadership pipe.

Women’s Access - Program dedicated to developing and strengthening the leadership capabilities of our women by fostering mentor-mentee relationships between women professionals and our leaders.

EY Women’s India network - A network started with the objective of understanding the professional and personal needs of our women colleagues and addressing them with expert inputs and advice.

MomEY - MomEY is EY’s endeavor to add to the joy of mothers-to-be and mothers returning to work after maternity or child care. We want to ensure that all our women, at every stage of their personal and professional lives, are supported and are able to make informed choices. Detailed below is the MomEY range of offerings, which will ensure our working mothers have the best of both the worlds.

Back In Game (BIG) - Guaranteed job for working mothers who take a career break for maternity/ child care, within 5 years of leaving the organization without any formal interview process.

Break & Beyond - Maternity coaching and transition support for mothers-to-be and mothers returning to work after maternity leave.

Kids’ Zone - Free-of-cost day care facility within office premises (currently at GVT-Gurgaon, Ruby- Mumbai and Chennai offices), so that working mothers can stay close to their little ones even at the workplace.

Adoption leave - Six weeks’ paid adoption leave for working mothers.

New ways of working - “My Life” offers flexible work arrangement to our employees seeking to meet their personal/work-life integration. Some of the key offerings are Flexi time arrangement - This initiative permits employees to set their own daily work patterns ranging between 8:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. within the defined guidelines. Arrival and departure times may vary. Telecommuting - This policy is aimed at providing working mothers the flexibility to work 4 hours from office and the remaining 4 hours from home.

Paternity Leave - We understand that our young fathers also need time to welcome their young ones. Hence we allow a one-week-long paternity leave to fathers, following the child’s birth. Sabbatical Leave Policy - Our Sabbatical Leave Policy allows tenured employees anywhere between three and six months of leave.

Gender sensitization - We create awareness of unconscious bias through theatre-style sessions. Apart from our numerous initiatives and polices aimed at providing a positive work environment for our women, we conduct regular workshops and seminars, deliver constant support to and keep them up to date on the policies that can befit them.It is this holistic, flexible and supportive environment that makes EY India a great place for women to start, establish and grow their careers.

Gender parity at work is no longer a nice discussion topic. EY provides women with a level playing field, helping them realize their full potential and excel in their careers. We start with the tone at the top and then we have a wide range of programs that enable women during every stage of their lives.

Hindustan Unilever Limited

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is one of India’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with a heritage of over 80 years in India and touches the lives of two out of three Indians. HUL works to create a better future every day and helps people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together for better business performance.

HUL is committed to becoming a truly diverse and inclusive company. This is not only the right thing to do, but is crucial to helping them achieve their vision of doubling the size of their business while reducing their environmental impact.

To deliver these business goals, HUL believes it is vital to have people with the right talent, skills and creativity. Creating an inclusive environment that enables all individuals to perform to their full potential, irrespective of who they are, will help the company win equitably and sustainably. The company embraces diversity in their workforce. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuous development of all employees regardless of gender, nationality, race, creed, disability, style or sexuality.

To ensure that the diverse workforce at HUL has the right tools and support to succeed, the company has an innovative set of policies and practices which help the employees through various life and career stages. Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Benefits, On site and superior Pre-school/Day care tie ups, Agile Working, Flexi-Location Policy, Flexible return to work option, Career By Choice (CBC) the platform for women returning to the work force etc., are all part of creating an inclusive workplace.

The Diversity Council is the apex Leadership Team that drives the Winning Balance agenda in Hindustan Unilever Ltd. This council brings innovative and experience based inputs while crafting the agenda, shaping and influencing policy and systems, providing feedback and direction to various elements of the Winning Balance program, while being Diversity Champions and role models themselves.

Hindustan Unilever believes that having a gender-balanced, engaged workforce that reflects their consumer base is a critical element of their long-term business strategy.

Diversity at Hindustan Unilever is about embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together. HUL believes that an inclusive workplace which allows everybody to be the best they can be, has a positive impact on the business.

IBM INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED

IBM’s Founder, Thomas J. Watson Jr. said, “Today, we are on the cusp of one more defining moment and its rippling across business models, technical models, and the very expectations people have for any enterprise they will call a leader.” As a company that has reinvented it’s business constantly from a tabulating, hardware & software company to a cognitive solutions, cloud platform and digital organization, our “defining moments” on advancement of women mirror this constant evolution and focus to stay relevant to our clients, constituents and the marketplace.

Since 1899, even before legislations and compliance drove gender diversity focus in most organizations, IBM embarked upon its journey to tap into the women talent pool (Diversity 1.0) by eliminating workplace barriers. What followed is a focus on nurturing women’s potential and adapting to the changing demands of new workforce dynamics via robust work/life management programs that continue to be a key differentiator for the company (Diversity 2.0). Diversity 3.0 has been around deepening engagement with all IBMers, overcoming unconscious bias to tap into our full innovation capability, and increasing societal impact through strategic partnerships with premier institutions, policy makers and government.

This strong foundation has been effectively leveraged by IBM in India since the early 1990sattracting, developing and growing women talent, translating what often is mere ‘corporate speak’ to something ‘real’ for an individual IBMer. In a lighter vein, we can call it the “been there, done that and what next” syndrome. IBM India’s commitment to advancing women can be looked through a 2 angled lens: Bridging the workplace & marketplace.

The Marketplace: Tanmatra is a leadership development program targeted at women in the top echelon of the leadership pipeline. It is the brainchild of IBM in partnership with IIM-B and Catalyst India. The objective is to develop general management skills for the cohort and the context is intentionally external facing. There are on average 10+ organizations (cross-industry verticals) that send their high potentials to the program on a yearly basis.

IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program is another one of its kind leadership development initiative of high potentials. Teams of 25 – 30 IBMers per assignment, are deployed to emerging markets to consult with start-ups and grassroots organizations on a host of business topics: strategy, IT, financial management, operations. Till date, approx. 300+ women leaders from IBM India have been impacted by this development exposure, across the world.

The Workplace: The IBM Corporation provides an environment rich in career and leadership opportunities, with many programs and resources available to women to advance their career. The IBM Leadership Academy, women specific leadership development offerings, rotational programs, mentoring, stretch assignment opportunities, are great examples of access to tools and training women have to help them in their career and leadership journey.

Building Relationship and Influencing (BRI) is a program for high potential women leaders, two to four years away from promotion to an executive role. Participants engage in experiential and action-centered learning that helps them develop business relationship and influencing capabilities. This increases their internal confidence and inner competence, laying the foundations for a shift in how they see themselves. In addition to this formal learning, participants become part of an online community, and are exposed to opportunities for mentorship.

IBM recognises that the women that we develop today will help advance and lead the business of the future. Our company has long had industry's leading policies focused on attracting, developing and retaining women talent, globally and locally. It is an honor to be a key partner on this conference with Working Mother, as it is aligned with IBM's goal of building women leaders who will contribute to the transformation of our business and mentoring the next generation of talent.

ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank believes that gender balance in the organisation and leadership positions ensures a more diverse team with different perspectives and a larger talent pool. To promote greater representation of women employees in the organisation, the Bank has introduced various initiatives.

To begin with, the Bank ensures meritocracy while assessing performance. This is in line with the organisation’s philosophy to avoid biases. Earlier this year, the Bank launched iWork@ home, an initiative which allows women employees to work from home by providing access to their work applications in a safe and secure manner. In order to assist women managers who travel on business, the Bank also introduced a policy which covers the cost of travel and stay of young children and their caregivers along with the woman employee. The Bank has a supportive leave policy to meet the diverse life stage needs of its employees. It provides 180 days of paid maternity leave and an additional child care leave. To ensure womens’ safety, the Bank has a Quick Response Team (QRT) in three cities of Mumbai, Delhi & NCR and Hyderabad whom women employees can reach during times of distress. Finally, the iTravelsafe app assists women employees if they are in distress while commuting.

ICICI Bank has produced a galaxy of strong women leaders, who occupy senior management positions within the ICICI Group as well as the corporate sector in India.

The Bank is a caring meritocracy where employee growth is linked to individual’s performance. Aspects like gender, religion or caste plays no role in deciding who will grow in the organisation. The Bank has broken stereo types in the kind of jobs which are traditionally offered to women in the industry. The Bank’s culture and people policies ensure that both men and women are given equal opportunities and are supported during their life stage needs.

Intel Technology India Pvt Ltd

At Intel India, our constant endeavor has been to foster a work environment where employees are engaged, and motivated. We aim to build an inclusive environment that encourages employees to bring in their best at work. A team of senior members from Human Resources and Business groups constitute the Diversity and Inclusion core team and they strategize to work toward our vision of making Intel India a Workplace of Choice for women. Our aim is to continually enhance the representation of women at all levels, ensure they progress in their careers and retain them in the long term. There is additional emphasis on developing and growing women in technical capabilities at senior levels.

In 2015, Intel India hired over 1000 new employees and 28% of them were women. We strive to provide all our employees with benefits and support to help them lead their best life. Some of the employeefriendly policies include:

Maternity insurance cover up to a max of INR 100000 per delivery for both employee and spouse. Enhanced Maternity Leave: From mid-2015 onwards, Intel India maternity leave was increased from 84 calendar days to 150 calendar days (5 months).

Gradual Return from Maternity Program: Employees returning from maternity are entitled to work part-time on full pay for up to 1 month (30 calendar days) post their return to work. Our initiatives focused on attracting, developing and retaining women are supported by the senior leadership council, which works directly with teams to deliver programs tailored to the unique needs of each group.

Intel India has Women@Intel Network (WIN) chapter, formalized as a chartered employee group. The WIN chapter is organized to focus on five vectors to show measurable progress in areas that matter. Those vectors are Technical Development for Women, Mentoring, STAY & Lean In, WIN talks, cross-site conferences, external conferences, and WIN communications.

Rapid Orientation for Accelerated Results (ROAR) is a program offered to recently-hired senior women at Intel. This program comprises a dialogue about Intel, strategy and culture, executive leader presentations, interactive development & networking with peers and leaders. Participants also get access to a one-year coaching program with coaches from Intel’s senior ranks every month.

Accelerated Women’s Leadership Program (AWLP) is a Leadership Program for senior and high-potential women. This program enables participants to spend focused time developing actionable leadership tools and career-enhancing strategies designed to maximize their potential for success at Intel. The Manager Alliance Program (MAP) is for managers of AWLP members and includes two 90-minute virtual and on-demand sessions to align them with objectives of the AWLP and solicit their support. It provides managers supplemental learning that will enhance their capabilities to grow and foster a more inclusive environment conducive to Intel’s overall diversity and inclusion strategies.

Intel India has a protégé-sponsorship program for select senior technical women employees that maps each identified employee to a senior leader, outside of their direct management chain. These sponsors act as their advocates and undertake targeted interventions that include influencing their job scope, creating networking opportunities, and ongoing coaching. The ultimate goal of this specialized leadership training is to strengthen and expand the leadership pipeline for women VPs in India.

Intel India’s Home to Office (H2O) program is one-of-its-kind initiative across Intel India that facilitates women professionals to be able to resume their career after a break due to the necessities of life such as child care, relocation with family, etc. This program, now in its second year, has been witnessing good traction.

Intel believes that the tech industry is stronger and more innovative when we are much more diverse and inclusive beginning with our own workforce. Our commitment to diversity comes from our conviction that reaching a critical mass of women and underrepresented communities brings ample benefits. We have made great strides in our efforts to better support and advance the careers of women throughout the organization.

Mindtree Limited

At Mindtree, diversity and inclusion are identified as highly critical areas for performance. The gender diversity agenda is pushed right from the talent acquisition phase. The firm strongly believes that talent acquisition strategies play a crucial role in ensuring diversity and inclusion in a way that enriches the organizational performance. Strategy is not only formulated to attract the right talent, but also to meet specific thrust on diversity. Being inclusive since inception, we stay committed to our diversity vision. Gender diversity, especially at mid-rungs, is of high significance to us. As an equal opportunities employer, Mindtree works with non-discriminatory practices that fosters respect and value for the workforce and the companies that it does business with.

SOME OF MINDTREE’S WOMEN-CENTRIC PROGRAMS: MiLady App - a companion for Mindtree’s female workforce Mindtree rolled out “MiLady”, the mobile application that enables women going on maternity leave to stay connected to the organization. The app updates employees on organizational developments and also facilitates their return to work by apprising them of the available projects they can join.

“A few months ago, we doubled our maternity leave to 6 months to allow our women employees to spend more time with the new addition to their family” said Chitra Byregowda. “However, a focused group discussion made us realize that simply doing that wasn’t enough. We needed to have a sustained support system in place to engage with employees on leave, make information accessible to them, and make their return hassle-free.“

MiLady enables expecting and new mothers to stay connected, relevant and inspired. Mindtree has an engagement model that provides for a buddy before women employees go on leave; it helps identify the right role for them to rejoin. Mindtree has designated HR managers who stay in touch with women going on maternity leave to ensure constant connection and smooth return.

Exuberance - Leadership program for women The Exuberance program was initiated to identify and encourage 100 emerging women leaders across Mindtree. This was launched in April 2016 and the first batch of women are going through an intensive program which spans over eight months.

THE DESIRED OUTCOME OF THE PROGRAM: Self-awareness: Identify areas of strengths

Mentoring: Nurture strengths through mentoring

Enhance professional networks and presence

Create a role model in yourself Women in technology - Women recruitment drive Women in tech was a diversity recruitment event that Mindtree undertook in Bangalore. The program was aimed at providing opportunities for women who were on a career break. The recruitment drive was an enormous success as it helped several women who were interested to return to work.

SOURCING STRATEGY USED FOR DRIVE:

Advertisements on social channels, radio, women-on-break career portals to pre-screen and schedule interviews for 300 talented women.

Women experienced in various technologies across verticals were interviewed.

Ran an exclusive referral campaign to source profiles of women on break.

We are delighted to have been recognized for our efforts in making Mindtree one of the best places for women employees. Inclusivity has been our vision from the inception and gender diversity is of high significance for us. We work continuously to devise practices that are all-inclusive and women friendly in specific, with a firm thrust on diversity during talent acquisition. One part of the challenge is to give a push from talent acquisition and another is to strengthen the growth of women across their work lifecycle. We recently launched the 'MiLady' app to allow women going on maternity leave to stay connected to the company, engage with them during their absence and facilitate their return to work. The app aims to make the transition much easier, both for those going on leave as well as those returning to work.

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley demonstrates a commitment to women and a diverse workforce through development, engagement and philanthropic initiatives across the Firm and in the communities where its employees live and work. They sponsor internal and external programs at Firm wide and divisional levels to attract, develop and engage a diverse workforce reflective of the global markets in which they operate.

ENTERING THE FIRM Morgan Stanley’s recruiting programs expose women entering or re-entering the workforce to the financial services industry. Interns and lateral hires are placed in every area of the Firm and work with teams of professionals, acquiring first-hand knowledge and experience at a global financial services organization. The Women in Technology Program consists of networking and recruiting events for prospective women hires in the Technology division at the Firm. The program serves to attract top female talent and also brands Morgan Stanley as an inclusive employer of choice for female technical talent. The Return to Work Program welcomes experienced candidates who are transitioning back into the workforce. Throughout the paid 10 to 12-week internship, participants receive tailored development programming, including a Firm orientation, technology training and informal lunches with senior leadership.

BUILDING A NETWORK The Women’s Business Alliance (WBA) is a strategic, business-driven initiative that integrates, encourages and promotes career development, cross-business connectivity and idea sharing across the Firm through skills development programs, access to inspirational leaders and networking events. Divisional Diversity Councils consisting of senior stakeholders help shape the diversity agenda for businesses by tracking diversity metrics and working towards building an inclusive work environment.

SUPPORTING AN INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT Morgan Stanley is committed to providing a professional work environment that promotesequal opportunity, dignity, and respect for everyone. Each employee is expected to recognizediverse points of view, make decisions based on merit, and lead with integrity. These principlesare central to the Firm’s core values. Consistent with these policies, inclusive culture trainingis offered to employees. Interviewing panels are diverse, and undergo training and briefingsessions on how to be aware of unconscious bias and create a fair selection process thatreflects the Firm’s commitment to a meritocracy. The Firm recognizes that taking time outduring maternity or adoption leave poses a number of challenges. Employees who qualify for Maternity or Adoption Leave are entitled to Parental Transition Coaching that helps employeesreturn to work after parental leave confidently and at their optimum performance level. Womenleaders play a significant part in inspiring women throughout their careers at the Firm. Aishade Sequeira, Managing Director, Co-Country Head and Head of Investment Banking in India forMorgan Stanley is a key sponsor of the Women’s Business Alliance, personally hosting eventsand informal lunches with women every year. Another key sponsor of the WBA is senior leaderSurekha Shenoy Kunder, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the GlobalIn-house Center.

BECOMING A LEADER AND ADVANCING WOMEN TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT The Firm provides women employees with career-building opportunities, professional development programs, opportunities to network and coaching to help them reach their full potential. Beyond programmatic efforts, Morgan Stanley recognizes that career mobility and experience in various areas of the Firm is often a key component as individuals ascend to senior management.

At Morgan Stanley, our diverse workforce is a competitive advantage and our inclusive culture reinforces the Firm's values. Being a working mother myself, I have found the culture here to be inclusive and nurturing; allowing employees from diverse backgrounds to bring their whole selves to work, to grow and reach their full potential.

Aisha De Sequeira Managing Director, Co-Country Head and Head of Investment Banking in India for Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley’s commitment to a diverse workforce and an inclusive corporate culture extends throughout the organization, and its success is reflected through the Firm’s increasingly diverse leadership ranks.

Sanjay Shah Managing Director, Co-Country Head and Co-Head of Institutional Equities in India for Morgan Stanley

People Combine Educational Initiatives Limited

People are at the heart of every initiative and policy in building the organization. We look for people with whom we can “Imagine Together” and who embody our core values of unity, integrity, accountability, enthusiasm and compassion. We at People Combine follow cosmopolitan culture, as the saying goes “The beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people”. We have employees from various cultural backgrounds. Also as the name endeavors “People Combine”, we are “People” first.

Our Chief People Officer – Mr. Rajeev Tupsakri sowed the thought of R3 way of culture. R3 way means Respect, Regard and Recognition. Respect – every individual, Regard every individual for what SHE/HE has achieved in life and take every single opportunity to recognize the good work done however small the work it maybe. He strongly believes in equal opportunities, inclusiveness, diversity aimed at bringing out the best in every individual’s personal excellence journey by a strong conviction ”you have the power to choose.”

We at People Combine are committed to attract, retain and advance careers of women who are working with us and shape them for high-performance business which also supports our broad commitment to being an inclusive diverse workplace. Training and Development programs are available to People Combine women to develop as leaders. We have programs which maximizes the performance of women in leadership, which enhances our women’s understanding of leadership roles through sharing of best practices and encourages them to further develop in their career as leaders. We have a formal program to identify and hire second career women (women returning to their career after a break). 75 women employees were hired through this program this year. People Combine empowers our women workforce to think different, encourages them to accept challenges, innovate to overcome any problems and to succeed in their work. People Combine strongly believes in providing utmost care and respect to the women workforce by providing suitable and impactful policies and processes thereby enabling our women workforce to have a perfect work life balance and a Win-Win situation. Some of the Flagship programs that we have are Principles (Human) over Rules, Flexible timings, Partial Work Partial Pay, Advance Health and Wellness program, Safety & Security, Unique Reward & Recognition program, almost 90% of women workforce get free lunch & transport and training program beyond work points. At People Combine we create a positive work culture for the best performance. We ensure healthy diversity at all management levels. In the last three years, we have been able to diversify from a dominant male population of above 50% to 40% and building a diversified workforce. For example, we have included women into security force. We have 6 female corporate executives in the leadership positions that are equally responsive for the P&L of their respective business units. Every year the mandate for recruitment team is to drive 50:50 ratios between male and female managers. We provide affinity/network groups for our employees – Including new mothers, parents who have adopted, working mothers, LGBTQ parents. Not only for employees but also for our supplier partner we have consciously driven the diversity program. 27% of our payments were made to women owned and veteran owned suppliers.

We at People Combine strongly believe in Work Life Balance. Hence every single policy which is designed keeps this thought at the foremost. We provide staff with summer, winter and autumn breaks to ensure work-life balance and at the same time we also have flexible work timings for women employees. Part time options are provided to employees on the need basis. At corporate office we have flexibility - working from home during any predicament. Finally, employee success leads to satisfaction and retention, which allows the organization to continue to meet its goals. Flexibility is a key aspect that would keep the women employees’ careers thriving. We at People Combine have provided this trump card in career advancement. Career enablers are frameworks of support that a woman professional can avail for better work life integration, which in turn has helped our women employees to sustain their career aspirations.

As the name People Combine suggests, the organization comes together through a combination of thoughts and ideas from our people i.e. employees. At People Combine we are very serious about involving our employees in decision making process, be it their own role related or work environment or People Combine at large. We firmly believe in Empowerment of Women and hence we pro-actively engage our women workforce. Be it Business Operations or defining of our goals for 2020. We at People Combine, strongly believe in people centric approach and as there is a famous saying, if employees are heard then customers are taken care of.

Prasanna Mandava Joint Managing Director

*On account of a tie in one of the positions in the Top 10, we have 11 companies make it to this prestigious list.

"Corporate India’s focus on recruiting and expanding their women employee base is laudable. Going by the data (a 5% increase in women’s representation in one year), the Best Companies for Women in India may get to their goal of gender balance in another 5-6 years’ time! Whilst it is encouraging to note that many companies have introduced new policies to retain valuable women talent, this trend still remains nascent in traditional services industry and there is a need for industries such as manufacturing and infrastructure to leverage the opportunity of an increase in employable women talent. In the years to come, BCWI will further strengthen the ecosystem for women professionals in India Inc., raising the bar each year and catalyzing its journey to gender balance."

Dr. Saundarya Rajesh,Founder - President, Avtar Group

"We are delighted that BCWI has set a benchmark among companies to initiate more women inclusive polices. The impact that BCWI has created in the Indian market, where companies have recognized the need for having women in the workforce and have diligently worked towards introducing best practices is truly remarkable. We have noticed that this is not just at an entry level but across all levels, which is very encouraging for women employees in the company. I congratulate all the winning companies and hope to see a continued expansion of inclusive and women-friendly policies."